How to break out of the “Hustle Money Cycle” and build a more sustainable business

This post was inspired by the Fizzle Youtube video here and the Fizzle Show Episode 161: Antihustle – Why Hustling Hurts You, and the conversation the hosts had around the dangers of the “hustling culture” in the online business world. #antihustle

“You have to spend money to make money”

This is the financial battle cry of hustling (you can read more of my thoughts on this phrase here). As you make the constant push to work harder, get things done faster, find more clients, make more products, and make more money; all so you can be more successful, you and your business will come crashing into one of the big dangers of constantly hustling in your business:

Hustling makes you spend money (that you may or may not have), faster than you want to spend it, in order for your business to keep pace with your hustle.

If you are constantly pushing: trying to create that next product, put together that next launch, sign up for that program that you “need” to be successful, you can experience a real financial hit as you also push more money out the door than your business is bringing in. Maintaining your hustle can lead to a sudden disappearing act of your savings, and debt accumulating on your credit cards and lines of credit (both business and personal if you are not careful).

It costs money to maintain a hustle, and if you don’t actually have that money, you can end up thousands of dollars (or tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars) in debt before you realize (or are ready to admit) what has happened.

“You need to spend money to make money”

The hustling battle cry that leads entrepreneurs into an endless “Hustling Money Cycle”:

The “Hustle Money Cycle”

What can you do instead of losing money to Hustling?

Constantly moving at breakneck speeds in your business to try to achieve success faster doesn’t have to be your solution. There are other ways to play the business game without risking your finances, and that will allow you to have dinner with your family, sleep, have down time, and take a vacation every now and again.

Two alternatives to constantly hustling:

Slow down. Stop sprinting and run a marathon.

Prepare your money for micro hustles.

Image from Fizzle.co

Slow down. Stop Sprinting, and Run a Marathon

Building a successful business takes time, and if hustling endlessly is not a fit for you, your energy, and your finances then make the decision to slow things down and build your business at a slower pace, a pace that the money you have available can match without you having to go into large amounts (or even small amounts if that makes you feel uncomfortable) of debt.

As you plan your business:

match your marketing activities to the money you have available for those activities

build products at a level that you can afford, even if they don’t have all the bells and whistles (yet)

create a website and use tools that fall within a planned budget

grow your team at a rate where your revenue can support them without depending on the next big launch or future success

determine your maximum debt threshold that you are comfortable with and stick with it

And, my personal favorite, start putting 10% of your income into a Choice Account and use that money to make decisions about when you can afford to hustle and when you need to take things slower. (You can learn more about Choice Accounts here)

Each of these suggestions helps you to match the expenses of building your business to the money and resources you have available, instead of continuously adding new expenses in the hopes of “getting ahead” and building faster. This will result in building a more sustainable, and less stressful, business that limits risk and supports you.

Prepare your money for micro-hustles

Constantly hustling, day in and day out, is going to have a dangerous impact on your business, your life, and your finances. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t plan for time-limited concentrated efforts in your business.

Micro-hustles, times in your business where you make a plan to go all out, for a set amount of time, that you can handle both energetically and financially can help your business grow in a much healthier fashion than trying to go-go-go all the time.

You can avoid the financial dangers of hustling by planning these micro-hustles ahead of time, determining what money you will need to support the micro-hustle (what tools you need to buy, new skills you need, marketing costs, product development, etc) and then SAVING ahead of time for your increased business activity.

Having money saved and ready to be spent during times of increased activity in your business removes a huge amount of the anxiety that comes with hustling (”this has to work, I need the money to pay the bills”) and will help you to avoid burnout.

When your micro-hustle money runs out, make a decision to slow down, and start building your business at a financially sustainable rate again, and start saving up for a future time when you will play all out again.

Plan for slow and fast growth in your business

Your money can support the sprint and the marathon

Constantly hustling to make your business work is not sustainable and will drain your energy, relationships, and finances.

Moving slowly in your business at all times can feel plodding, heavy, and at times hopeless when you are not experiencing any wins.

The answer to building your business is not a choice between “spend whatever is necessary for the sprint” OR “keep the bank accounts locked up tight for the marathon”.

The answer is both “sprint AND marathon” and make plans for your money to support the current strategy while minimizing risk.

Choose the times when you need to slow things down energetically and financially and build your business with the marathon approach. Then during this time start saving your money in preparation so you can make the short term, sustainable choice, to switch to a sprint, knowing that your energy and money can support the speed of your micro-hustle.

If you can keep your money in mind as you make your business plans you can avoid the Hustle Money Cycle and all of the anxiety and pressure that comes with it.

In the end you will build a more sustainable business that supports you and all of your business and personal goals and dreams.